Chapter
4
Conductors and Insulators
Introduction
We have seen in earlier activities that electricity flows
through a complete path called a circuit. Within a circuit,
electricity flows through conductors. Conductors are
materials through which electricity can flow. Insulators,
on the other hand, block the flow of electricity. Insulators
are materials through which electricity cannot flow.
The properties of both types of materials—conductors
and insulators—are useful.
In this chapter we’ll investigate which kinds of materials
and objects are good conductors and which are insulators.
Goals of this Activity
When you have completed this Activity, you will be able to:
1. Describe the difference between electrical conductors and
insulators.
2. Identify electrical conductors and insulators through
experimentation.
3. Describe why it is important to have both conductors and
insulators.
27
To Flow or Not To Flow
We know that electricity flows in a path called a circuit. Without a
complete circuit, electricity cannot flow. If it does not flow, electricity cannot do work such as lighting a lamp, powering a computer,
or turning a motor.
However, experience tells us that electricity doesn’t flow through
everything. If it did, we’d get an electric shock every time we turned
on a lamp, touched a computer keyboard, or picked up a battery.
Electricity flows through objects that are conductors and doesn’t
flow through objects that are insulators. Good conductors are
generally made of metal such as copper, aluminum, silver, gold,
brass, tin, and lead. Good insulators are often made of glass,
plastic, rubber, ceramic, or cloth.
Insulators are useful for separating electricity from objects and living things that
it could damage. In the picture at the left,
power lines are separated from the metal
tower by a stack of ceramic insulators.
Insulators also protect electric circuits
from objects that could interfere with the
proper functioning of the circuit. Most
importantly, insulators are necessary for
health and safety because they separate people from electricity. For
example, the conductor in most appliance power cords is copper wire,
but it is surrounded by insulating plastic so that we can safely touch
a plugged-in cord.
In this Activity we experiment with different kinds of materials and
objects to identify good conductors of electricity, poor conductors
of electricity, and insulators.
28
Electric Circuits
We will build a working circuit using a lamp as our load. Then we
will test different objects to see if they are conductors or insulators.
Some of the objects have been supplied in this KitBook. You will
also be asked to find other objects to test and record your results. If
the lamp lights up with the object in the circuit, then the object is a
conductor. If the lamp doesn’t light up, the object is an insulator.
Definitions and Symbols
Conductor
Electricity flows through conductors. Conductors are usually made
of metal. Copper, aluminum, silver, and gold are good conductors.
The PowerPage in this KitBook uses copper wire and steel snaps for
conductors. A conductor is the opposite of an insulator.
Insulator
An insulator is a material, usually non-metallic, that partially or
completely blocks the flow of electricity (and heat, too). Plastic,
rubber, leather, glass, and ceramic are good insulating materials. An
insulator is the opposite of a conductor.
Chapter 4: Conductors and Insulators
29
Activity
5
Conductors and Insulators
You will need these parts in order to complete this Activity:
1
1
1
1
1
Battery
Lamp
Penny
Slide switch
2 Jumper wires with alligator clips
1 Rubber band
Conductors
Insulators
Does the lamp light up? Is the
jumper wire a good conductor?
Place the battery in Position 5 with
the positive terminal on the right.
Remove the alligator clip from Posi6 tion
1L and clip the other jumper
2
Make sure the switch is in the ON
3 position.
Place the slide switch in Position 4.
lead into 1L.
4 Place a lamp in Position 2.
Use a jumper wire to connect the
5 right
side of Position 1 to its left side.
This is where we will connect objects
to determine whether they are conductors or insulators, as shown in the
figure on the next page.
Position 1
Position 2
L
L
R
PowerPage
R
L
R
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5
–
30
+
Electric Circuits
Activity
5 Conductors and Insulators (continued)
the alligator clips to a
7 Attach
penny. Does the lamp light up? Is
try at least four different
10Now
objects available in the classroom.
the penny a conductor or insulator?
Record your observations on a separate sheet of paper. Draw a picture
of each object and label whether it
is a conductor or an insulator.
the penny and replace
8 Remove
it with a rubber band. Does the
lamp light up? Is the rubber band a
conductor or an insulator?
the rubber band and
9 Remove
replace it with the straw, then a
paper clip, and then the craft stick.
Does the lamp light up? Which
of these objects are conductors?
Which are insulators?
off the switch. Remove all
11Turn
parts and return them to the tray.
Put all the conductors and insulators you tested back where you
found them.
on to the reading and questions
12Go
at the end of the chapter when you
are ready.
W
E
U S T
T R
I N
G
O
D
19
L IB
ER
99
TY
Position 1
Position 2
L
L
R
PowerPage
R
L
R
Position 3
Position 4
Position 5
–
Chapter 4: Conductors and Insulators
+
31
Did You Know?
Some materials are good conductors and some are good insulators. But there is also an important class of materials with
unique electrical properties known as semiconductors.
These materials have physical properties somewhere in
between a conductor and an insulator. They carry electricity moderately well—not well enough to be called a
conductor like copper wires, but not poorly enough to be
called an insulator like a piece of glass. Hence, their name:
semi-conductor. Examples include germanium and silicon.
Because of their unique properties, semiconductors can perform special
functions that have led them to become the basic building blocks of modern
electronics.
Transistors, invented in 1947, were the first practical applications of semiconductors. Since then, every major electronic invention has been made possible
by the transistor. In 1958, a huge breakthrough took place with the invention
of the integrated circuit—the microchip—consisting of thousands of interconnected transistors. Microchips took the transistor innovation to an exciting new
level and gave rise to the Information Age.
Questions
1. Can you tell if an object will be a good conductor or insulator
just by looking at it? How?
2. Why is it just as important to have insulators as it is to have
conductors?
3. Name three examples of insulators used in electrical devices at
home and in the classroom.
Challenges
1. Who was Georg Ohm and for what is he best known?
2. Research and write a short paper (less than one page in length)
about the history of the transistor. Who invented it and why?
3. Who was Jack Kilby and what was his most important contribution to society?
32
Electric Circuits